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Kentucky Man Pulls 50 Pound Catfish out of Floodwater

02/27/2018

This week, a powerful storm system is sweeping across the country, bringing heavy rains, tornadoes and flooding to a number of states in the South and Midwest. While many residents in these areas are evacuating their homes and trying to save their belongings from water damage, at least one man in Kentucky is making the most of the foul weather.

In Bullitt County, Kentucky, constable Robert Watkins decided to throw on a pair of waders and do some fishing in his front yard. He and a friend rigged up a few limb lines in a nearby tree, checking in periodically for signs of activity. Soon enough, Watkins got what he was looking for—a monster catfish roaming the river’s floodwater.

Watkins estimates the catfish weighed about 55 or 60 pounds, but he didn’t get an exact measurement because the fish maxed out his 50-pound scale. Watkins released the catfish back into the water after it was caught, but not before his friend managed to get a few photos of him wrangling the enormous fish.

Perhaps the most remarkable part of the story is the fact that this catfish isn’t even the biggest one Watkins has pulled out of the Salt River in the past. Whenever the river rises, he and his friend typically find huge specimens such as this one. The largest catfish he ever caught reportedly weighed a whopping 95 pounds, but we don’t have the photographic evidence to back up this impressive fish tale.